US Forces Withdraw from Their Last Bases in Iraq, Raising Fears of a Vacuum That Emboldens Iran’s Proxies and Islamic State

US forces have withdrawn from their remaining bases in Iraq, raising fears they will leave behind a security vacuum, further embolden Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, and give the resurgent Islamic State group an opening to regroup. The departure, celebrated as a victory by Tehran and its allies, was agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by Donald Trump’s administration even as it wages war against Iran. It comes 23 years after US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein, then triggered upheaval and chaos culminating in the rise of Islamic State.

While the departure is broadly popular among Iraqis, some worry that security forces trained and funded by the United States still cannot protect the country, where 4,500 American service members died in more than 20 years of war. “The lesson from the past two decades is that security vacuums can be extremely dangerous,” said Jassim al-Bahadli, an Iraqi analyst who advises the security forces. After invading in 2003, US forces occupied the country and fought a years-long insurgency before withdrawing at the end of 2011, returning less than three years later to help Iraqi forces defeat Islamic State in a war from 2014 to 2017.

In the 2026 conflict with Iran, seven of the 18 US service members listed as killed were in Iraq, the last an army sergeant who died during the controlled detonation of a drone at a base near Erbil in July. Iran, which says its ultimate aim is to force American forces out of the entire Middle East, casts the pullout as a triumph for its “axis of resistance.” “What is further concerning is not necessarily direct Iranian intervention, but the possibility that Iran’s proxies will feel increasingly empowered in the absence of a Western military presence,” said Baghdad-based analyst Ahmed Younis, while some Iraqi security officials warn the pullout risks giving new life to Islamic State sleeper cells. (TOI/VFI News)